


Strong and Children (And Grandchildren) Construction, Serving Delmarva for Fifty Years

by HerenorThereNearnorFar



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-04
Updated: 2015-05-04
Packaged: 2018-03-28 22:38:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3872362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HerenorThereNearnorFar/pseuds/HerenorThereNearnorFar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In all honesty Beach City could have probably supported a construction company just on it's own. But the house down the beach was particularly accident prone, and a little strange.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Strong and Children (And Grandchildren) Construction, Serving Delmarva for Fifty Years

**Author's Note:**

> The Gems probably have their own methods of house repair, but they (and by extension the rest of Beach City) seems pretty damage prone, and where you have destruction you have builders. The logistics of fixing up the many things broken in the average episode intrigued me. Just more outside character-looking-in stuff, really. Set shortly after Steven the Swordfighter.

Beach City was a big customer but Jessamine Strong had a particular fondness for That House. Up until a few years ago they hadn't gotten any business from That House. In fact, it hadn't existed. Jessamine knew because she had built it. Now, every few months, rain or shine, they were called in to fix it. It was a steady source of business, even if the place was a little.... strange. Strange even by Beach City standards, which was quite the feat. A good business woman knew how to ignore that of, course.

When she saw the number on the office phone she picked up right away. "Hello, this is Strong Construction, how may I help you?" 

A lilting, slightly distracted voice, Jessamine recognized answered. "Ah, hello. You are the construction people? We would like our cabinets fixed." A burst of static on the other end of the line suggested some movement. "Actually, probably replaced. That is some scoring."

Jessamine found it was easiest to make sure everything stayed the same for them and she kept blueprints and list of the materials and fixtures used to help facilitate that. Crossing over to her filing boxes to get the folder on That House she started asking questions. "The entire set of cabinets, ma'am? All of them?"

The voice on the phone paused as if doing some more evaluation and then Jessamine heard the swish of someone shaking their head. "Just the fronts of the two perpendicular to the- Steven, please, I'm trying to talk to someone, we'll watch it in a minute- the two perpendiculars to the refrigerator and sink. A part of the counter is also damaged." 

"My bedroom floor too." Said someone in the background, close enough to be clearly heard. 

The woman agreed. "Yes, and some floor boards in the bedroom."

Jessamine consulted her records. "How deep is the damage to the counter?"

"Let me check... about an inch? Is that bad? And now that I look there's some marking to the wood on the sides."

It was better to hear these things on the phone then at the house, Jessamine reminded herself. "It just means we'll need to replace that entire section. Two standard cabinet doors, model 34, a replacement counter, a few new floor boards and patching for some other wood damage, then. Is that all?"

"I believe so." Murmuring filled the line and Jessamine heard a whispered, "No, Steven, they can't replace the TV and the coffee table. Your father is going to do that tomorrow. These people only fix structural damage."

It reminded Jessamine of her own children and grandchildren at that age. Smiling a little she checked her schedule. The usual employees had jobs for most of today but thinking about grandchildren she knew someone who could come along and help. "Great. We can be there this afternoon and probably have it all done within a few hours."

"Good.” The woman on the phone said, a little curtly. As she hung up Jessamine heard an excited, "Can we watch it now Pearl!" 

Pearl, that was her name. She was more polite then some other customers but standoffish. Jessamine didn't mind her but she much preferred the tallest of the three women who lived at That House, who tended to hover a little less and once or twice had helped out with especially heavy materials. Not that it mattered, it was a job and they could do it regardless of the employers. 

Jessamine left her office. Larry, her second grandson was outside in the main room. His father had been working with Jessamine since he was old enough to walk and had thought it important that each of his children spent some time in the family business as well. Larry mostly helped out in the office, he wasn't as hands on his older brother James, who was still working with Strong and Children despite always saying he was going to find another job, or his younger sister Sally, who was only old enough to occasionally tag along and hold nails but who was exceedingly enthusiastic. Despite his stated intention to go to college and be a doctor Larry was a strapping lad and skilled enough to help Jessamine with a repair job.

"Mawmaw?" he asked, "Dad called in, said they were having some complications on the Green Court house's roof. It might take another few days."

"Honestly." Jessamine shook her head. "That place is a wreck. I told your father it was a bad house and does he listen? No. He can handle it though." Tsking she reminded herself of why she had come to talk to him. "Anyway. I'm going out tonight to do some work. Simple stuff. But since everyone else is busy reroofing historic death traps, I want you to come with me."

Larry hesitated. "But the office..."

"Your aunt can handle it. She's been bucking for something to do since she tore her back and this should help her feel useful. Besides, you some more practice with proper work. Everyone-"

"Needs to know how fix things." Larry finished for her with a sigh. "I know, Mawmaw."

Jessamine hid a grin. "It'll be fun. What boy your age doesn't like to be seen out and about with their grandmother?"

 

They made a stop at the hardware store to pick up the supplies they didn't have. Jessamine checked twice to make sure the new components would match the old ones. Then it was a twenty minute drive to Beach City, shortened considerably by a lengthy debate over radio choices. Larry had been to Beach City before, to help rebuild the boardwalk or to help his brother repaint signs. James had an artist's eye and more importantly could recreate store signs quickly and efficiently. It was one of their more useful services in Beach City, which seemed to go through advertising at an alarming rate. Their pickup truck left the boardwalk and headed down the beach, turning left until they reached the front of the bluff. Jessamine was so busy trying to drive on the sand she only noticed Larry's awe when they were parked in front of the house and the statue. 

"Mawmaw, when James talked about the brilliant sculpture at this place I didn't quite expect this."

Jessamine gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Impressive, isn't it? Your brother couldn't talk in full sentences for an hour after the first time he saw this place, then he kept rambling about impossible carving techniques and universal themes in iconography. But you get used to it. Now come on, kid. We need to haul everything up to the house."

As Larry scrambled to the back of the pickup truck he started rattling off question. "Where did this place come from? How is it not a national monument? That house on the dune, is that your work?"

"No idea, no idea, and yes. One day we got a visitor, nice man, a little flustered, asking about people willing to build houses. We did a survey and once we got over the moon-eyed staring your aunt drew up some rough plans. We came down the next week and built it quick. They didn't even have a zoning permit." Jessamine shielded her eyes and looked up at the huge, serene stone face dozens of feet above them. "Course, they probably didn't need one. Larry, this a bit hush. Alright? People like privacy and we value confidentiality. So don't go chatting about this. And no pictures. We have a professional reputation to maintain."

Larry gave the statue and the little house nestled in its lap another once over, then nodded and hefted the cabinet fronts they had brought. "I do know how to mind my manners, Mawmaw."

"That's my boy." Jessamine said, hefting her toolbox. It got heavier and heavier to lift almost every day but age hadn't caught up to her quite yet. 

They hiked up to the porch. A smiling young boy and a adult, feminine and fine boned with short hair, were standing by the door. They had probably seen the car come up and had been waiting. The boy was leaning slightly into his guardian, whose hand was lying in his hair. Jessamine smiled, by the time James and Larry and Sally were that age they were much less affectionate. 

"You called about repairs?" Jessamine said, lifting her toolbox for inspection. 

The woman nodded. "Mrs. Stone, isn't it?"

"Strong" Jessamine corrected. 

"Right." Pearl said distantly, then stepped back to clear the doorway. "Erm, come in." 

Jessamine stepped forward and Larry followed her. It wasn't a big house, just one room. The kitchen was off to the right and to the left was a couch with slashed cushions, a coffee table broken in half, and a raised platform with a child's bed and child's toys on it. No privacy and certainly no accommodations for anyone else. In the very back the structure changed, wood siding giving into roughhewn rock and faintly glowing crystals, a circular raised area made out of an iridescent material in the middle of the floor and a door in the back that looked very, very old. She glanced at Larry and hoped he wouldn't say anything, she probably should have warned him beforehand. Luckily he kept his tongue and gave the boy, still clinging to Pearl's leg as if she would disappear, a smile. 

"Mind showing me what's broken?"

Hesitantly the kid detached himself from his keeper and grinned. "Over here. The cabinet doors got pretty banged up. My TV is broken too but my dad is going to get a new one." Jessamine and Pearl followed the two of them over to the kitchen as the boy kept talking. 

They got the cabinets replaced fairly quickly, then recruited Pearl and the shorter, purpler woman who had slipped into the room in a flash of light, to help get the new countertop in. Larry seemed pensive as they then ripped up the stabbed floorboards and replaced them and Jessamine had to admit she was a little surprised he wasn't asking more questions. Perhaps it was for the better, everyone else seemed sedate, even the boy, who was still sticking close to Pearl.

They finished with a tap of the hammer and Jessamine started putting her tools away. Pearl crossed the floor from where she had been tidying up a pile of toys and pulled some faded bills and verdigris covered coins out of her sash. 

"Is two hundred acceptable?" she asked, pinching the money between two fingers. Jessamine bet none of it was from the last twenty years. Last year she had fixed up some acid stains on the siding and been paid in gold doubloons. You got used to it. 

"Two fifty with the materials." she said. 

Pearl nodded and fished out more cash, handing to Jessamine carefully. Jessamine handed it to Larry, who was looking increasingly worried, and went to write a receipt, which Pearl took with a look of faint bemusement. 

"Thank you."

"Not a problem. Call us again next time you need something patched up."

Pearl nodded and the boy waved. "Goodbye, thank you for fixing my bedroom again."

Jessamine practically had to drag Larry out of the house. 

 

"Mawmaw, are they... okay?"

"What do you mean?" 

Larry shifted in the passenger seat. "I know you think I have my head in the clouds. But it looked like someone with a knife went at that house. There's a kid living there. And there isn't room for anyone else to be living with him, not unless they were living in that cave. I mean... should we call someone?"

Jessamine frowned and made a slightly sharper turn than was called for as they left the boardwalk. "Who would you suggest?"

Larry sighed. "Child Protective Services? I mean it, Mawmaw, it doesn't seem quite right. Steven seemed pretty upset about something and those markings are the kind of thing you think about when people say the words warning signs."

He was a sweet kid, Jessamine knew that. But gosh, could he be naive. She made a u-turn. "I know what you're thinking. I'll admit I've given it a thought or two myself. But I've been to places I had to call social services on before and this isn't one of them. That boy might not be getting the most normal upbringing but he's safe and he's happy."

"Are you sure?" Larry said, which seemed like a polite way of asking if she was getting soft in the head. 

Jessamine rolled her eyes. "Positive. Come on, let's stop somewhere and I'll prove it."

 

The carwash wasn't very busy. In fact it seemed closed. Jessamine hopped out of the truck and knocked on the front door, which was, after a lengthy pause, answered by a middle aged man with long hair and tired but likeable face. Blinking sleep out of his eyes he looked at the pair, Jessamine's bottle black hair in the setting sunlight (she refused to go grey) and Larry's sheepish, embarrassed expression. 

"Mrs. Strong? You know the carwash and that pickup really don't get along. And it's late."

Jessamine smiled. "Believe me, I learned after the last time. No, I took it down the beach, to your boy's place. Had to deflate the tires a bit beforehand, you know the sand. But I'd rather not drive home like that. Mind if we use your pump, Greg?" She hadn't actually deflated the tires and Larry knew it, but he was a bright kid, and more importantly a bit shy, and didn't speak up. Besides, they could use a fluff up. 

Greg nodded, suddenly more alert. "Yeah, sure. You were with the gems? What happened?"

"Nothing big, just a scratch up on some surfaces. Oh, Greg this is my grandson, Larry. Larry, this is Steven's father, Mr. Universe." 

"Nice to meet you, kiddo." Greg said and Larry mumbled something in reply. "Let me go get the pump, I put it somewhere."

When he returned with the item in question Jessamine took it gratefully and went to 'fix' the tires, leaving Larry with Greg and a significant look. Larry cleared his throat. 

"Your son's a sweet kid." he offered awkwardly.

"Yeah." Greg agreed. "Hope there wasn't too much trouble there? I know things can get a bit... messy sometimes." 

"It was okay." Larry said, Jessamine, trying not to listen from the car, had to keep herself from shaking her head. The boy seemed to get it together because he shoved his hands in his pockets and asked "Not a hard job. Some pretty strange damage though. Kind of looked like a really long knife."

Greg winced. "Yikes. Pearl said they had a little trouble."

"Uh. Yeah." Larry said. "But, I guess they have it all under control, right?"

"Definitely." Greg said and he didn't look like the sort of person Larry would usually trust, barefoot and still a little sleepy, but there was something about the way he said it that was terribly convincing. Trust was a contagious thing, Jessamine decided, wandering back over and handing back the tire pump. 

"Thanks for the lend. Twenty dollars fair?"

Greg smiled and it was his son's smile, impossibly open and honest. "It's all good. I figure it even out." Jessamine nodded and he turned to Larry. "Take care of your grandma."

Bless his heart, Larry actually stammered, "Yes, sir." His mother had a thing for manners and Jessamine was pretty sure medical school was going to chew him up and spit him out. He'd always have family to fall back on, of course. 

 

A month later, Sally covered the phone and hissed. "It's someone named Pearl. Number is Beach City, the place where we fixed up the pizza sign last week? She's asking for Mawmaw."

Larry sighed, world weary. "Give me the phone, Sal." His sister handed it over and he put on his best customer service voice. "Hello, this is Strong and Children. What do you need?"

Mawmaw was getting her hip replaced, Dad and James and Aunt Angie were all out, he might have to take this one on his own. Maybe he could bring Sally along to help. She probably needed to learn how to deal with That House. It could be tricky and you had to learn not to ask questions, but they were good people. Or good.... whatever they were. 

"You need all the glass in your house replaced? How do you… Sorry. We’ll be there."

Maybe he'd need to bring more than just Sally. He’d talk to dad. You couldn’t afford to ignore Beach City, they were good customers.


End file.
